The problem of this study is to determine the role of the administrative assistant in the public schools of Texas, as perceived by superintendents, and to compare the findings with recommendations which are found in the literature.

D.Ed. / The objective of this thesis was to investigate, both qualitatively and quantitatively the school governance capacity building of school governing bodies in the Witbank district, Mpumalanga province, for the effective management of schools. A literature survey was undertaken and it is evident that, against the background of effective school governance, there is a definite need for more specific and up to date capacity building for school governing bodies. Furthermore, the importance of capacity building as an aspect of school governance capacity building and its implications for effective school management as a process, is emphasized. An empirical study was undertaken. In this research a questionnaire and focus group interviews were used. The research design is discussed in chapter four. In chapter five the analysis and interpretation of both the questionnaire and the focus group interview has been discussed. The literature study undertaken in chapter two discusses the problems regarding school governance capacity building tried in other countries. The two instruments were used to gauge the opinions of the school governing bodies' capacity in respect of school governance. Their responses to the questionnaire were analysed by means of multivariate and univariate statistical tests. From the sixty two questions, twenty were selected for the purpose of further qualitative analysis. The sixty two questions were then reduced to three factors using two consecutive factor analytic procedures: Factor 1- competent school governance. Factor 2- accountable collaborative school governance; and Factor 3- selection criteria. The competent school governance factor consists of 39 questions with a Cronbach - Alpha reliability coefficient of 0,9412. The accountable collaborative school governance factor consists of 20 questions with a Cronbach-Alpha reliability coefficient of 0,8684. Selection criteria consist of three questions with a Cronbach-Alpha reliability coefficient of 0,559. Multivariate and univariate statistical analyses were used to test the various hypotheses regarding school governance capacity building. Significant statistical differences between the mean score of two independent groups were investigated using Hotelling's T2 test and the Student t-test. Three or more independent groups were first tested at the multivariate level using MANOVA (multivariate analysis of variance). Any differences found at this level were further investigated using the ANOVA (analysis of variance) test at the univariate level. Pair-wise differences were investigated using the Dunette T3 or Scheffe test. Focus group interviews were also conducted because of the poor response to the questionnaires. Ten questions were developed around school governance capacity building which were used during the focus group interviews. The analysis of the data obtained from the focus group interviews clearly indicated a lack of capacity on the part of the three main components of the school governing body namely - parents, non-educators and learners. The following important recommendations emanated from this research: School governance capacity building is a crucial necessity. According to the findings of the research, respondents exposed a lack of capacity in their governance. Respondents also believe that they would have been better SGB's if they had the necessary training workshops.

This study provided administrators in a large southern metropolitan public school district an opportunity to participate in a stress-related research study. The questionnaire contained such stress-related probe areas as spiritual beliefs, preferred and imposed (perceived) orders of major-life emphasis areas, professional environment, personal-social environment, and probes into the ethical positions held by the administrators. The professional environment section contained subsets of internal (on-the-job) probes, external (political) probes, as well as personal (incentive) probes.The personal-social environment section was sub-divided into five Maslow hierarchy-of-need related probes such as physiological needs, safety-security needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-fulfillment needs. The final section of the instrument sampled the administrators' responses to probes concerning their concepts of God, their concepts of the Bible arid their positions on eight ethical statements.

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There is ample research (Bova & Phillips, 1994; Cordeiro & Smith-Sloan, 1995; Daresh, 2002; Ginty & Gaskill, 1993; Playko, 1995; Riche, 1979) to demonstrate the need for and benefits of mentoring both in the business world and with first year teachers. Mentoring allows a more experienced person to work directly with a less experienced person. Some benefits of such a relationship can include knowledge transfer, increased learning, creation of a support network, a decrease in job stress and anxiety, and an opportunity for the prot&#233;g&#233; to learn the big picture. School administrators face an increasing number of challenges in a job where new responsibilities are created almost on a daily basis. Many states will experience a shortage of qualified administrative applicants for open positions. This shortage is due to the retirement in the next several years of many existing administrators in addition to a larger number of positions accompanying increased school enrollment. Many states are exploring ways to address this concern. The first is through a reevaluation of certification criteria (training). The second is through the development of mentoring programs for new administrators (keeping the administrators we have). However, there is little research available on the mentoring of new administrators. This study identified the existing opinions, beliefs, and attitudes, including perceived value that administrators have towards mentoring for their job assignment. Statistical significance was determined at alpha < .01 for each analysis of variance between the groups. There was one item on the survey where a statistically significant difference was found between gender; assessment and grading (p(F) = .007). There was one item on the survey where a statistically significant difference was found between principals and assistant principals; school management (p(F) = .008). There was one item on the survey where a statistically significant difference was found between administrators who have and have not served as a formal mentor; time for discussion together (p(F) = .003). There was one item on the survey where a statistically significant difference was found between administrators who have and have not served as an informal mentor; mentor at same school level (p(F) = .005). However, the final two items of statistical significance are from Section B of the survey. Section B had a reliability of Cronbach's alpha = .50 (see Table 1). Therefore, results of these items must be viewed with caution. It is important to note that 400 out of 414 (96.7%) individual item analyses found no statistically significant differences between the various groups. / Ed. D.

This study investigated the variation in rate of upward mobility among public school superintendents. An explanation for that variation was provided in a theory which involved upward mobility as a function of professional attractiveness and inside sponsorship operating in a perceived paternalistic environment. Attractiveness variables included in the theory were categorized as physical, attitudinal, technical, or political. The sample consisted of 427 educational administrators, 294 superintendents, and 133 non-superintendents. A total of 251, 172 superintendents and 79 non-superintendents, or 59 percent participated in the study. Data were collected by mail return of the Questionnaire for Career Development of Educational Administrators within which four instruments were contained. The Modified Career Orientations Survey, Educational Work Components Study, Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-- Behavior, and Background Information Form measured the professional attractiveness variables, inside sponsorship, and perceived paternalism. Data were analyzed using multiple regression and discriminant analysis. / Ed. D.

The central problem in this investigation was to explore antecedent factors associated with role conflict and role ambiguity in the office of the school superintendent. A review of the literature and related studies indicated a paucity of research which related the concepts of (a) personality and (b) organizational variables to the level of (a) role conflict and (b) role ambiguity in the office of the school superintendency. The design treated the personality and organizational variables as independent and the role conflict and role ambiguity variables as dependent. There were 8 personality variables and 15 organizational variables (a) 6 for organizational innovation, (b) 2 for administrative autonomy, (c) 1 for the position, (d) 3 for contextual factors, and (e) 3 for job satisfaction. The 25 variables were translated into operational definitions, and scales were constructed for each of them. Personality was operationalized by the Gordon Personal Profile, and Inventory. These were then used in a correlational analysis to explain the personality and organizational dimensions found. The study used a self-rating questionnaire methodology. The sample population, selected through a systematic sampling procedure, consisted of 366 school superintendents from the Southeastern Region of the United States. There was 296 usable returns on the questionnaire designed for the study. This represented an 80.87% response rate. The Gordon Personal Profile, and Inventory had 279 responses completed according to the directions. The data indicated the following: 1. There was no relationship between (a) role conflict or (b) role ambiguity and the personality variables. 2. There was no relationship between (a) role conflict or (b) role ambiguity and the organizational innovation variables. 3. There was a moderate, positive relationship between role conflict and the administrative autonomy variable of the question that the school system is under too much pressure from outside sources to determine its own course of action. 4. There was a weak, inverse relationship between role conflict and the administrative autonomy variable of the question that the school system is able to determine its own course of action. 5. There was no relationship between role ambiguity and the administrative autonomy variables. 6.There was no relationship between (a) role conflict or (b) role ambiguity and the position variable. 7. There was no relationship between (a) role conflict or {b) role ambiguity and the contextual factors. 8. There was a weak, positive relationship between role conflict and the job satisfaction variable of the likelihood of leaving their positions. 9. There was a weak, inverse relationship between role conflict and the job satisfaction variable of satisfaction with their present positions. 10. There was no relationship between role conflict and the job satisfaction variable of years in office. 11. There was no relationship between role ambiguity and the job satisfaction variables. The administrative autonomy variable of the school system is under too much pressure from outside sources to determine its own course of action accounted for the largest proportion of variance in role conflict. The highest proportion of variance in role ambiguity was accounted for by the administrative autonomy variable of the school system is able to determine its own course of action. Role conflict and role ambiguity in all cases were more directly related to organizational variables than to personality variables. However, the organizational variables did not explain as large an amount of variance in role ambiguity as they did in role conflict. The relationships between (a) role conflict and personality variables, (b) role ambiguity and personality variables, (c) role conflict and organizational variables, and (d} role ambiguity and organizational variables were not affected by partialling out individually the job satisfaction variables. / Ed. D.

The problem of this thesis is to develop a technique to evaluate administrative personnel practices in schools.